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Improvement of the management of infants, children and adults with a molecular diagnosis of Enterovirus meningitis during two observational study periods.

ABSTRACT: Enteroviruses (EVs) are a major cause of aseptic meningitis, and RNA detection using molecular assay is the gold standard diagnostic test. The aim of this study was to assess the impact of an EV positive diagnosis on the clinical management of patients admitted for meningitis over the course of two observational study periods (2005 and 2008-09) in the same clinical departments. We further investigated in multivariate analysis various factors possibly associated with hospital length of stay (LOS) in all age groups (infants, children, and adults). The results showed an overall improvement in the management of patients (n = 142) between the study periods, resulting in a significantly shorter hospital LOS for adults and children, and a shorter duration of antibiotic use for adults and infants. In multivariate analysis, we observed that the time from molecular test results to discharge of patients and the median duration of antibiotic treatment were associated with an increase in LOS in all age groups. In addition, among adults, the turnaround time of the molecular assay was significantly correlated with LOS. The use of CT scan in children and hospital admission outside the peak of EV prevalence in infants tended to increase LOS. In conclusion, the shorter length of stay of patients with meningitis in this study was due to various factors including the rapidity of the EV molecular test (particularly in adults), greater physician responsiveness after a positive result (in adults and children), and greater experience on the part of physicians in handling EV meningitis, as evidenced by the shorter duration of antibiotic use in adults and infants.

SUBMITTER: Archimbaud C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3708915 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:BackgroundMeningitis is characterized by an inflammation of the meninges, or the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Early diagnosis and treatment is crucial for a positive outcome, yet identifying meningitis is a complex process involving an array of signs and symptoms and multiple causal factors which require novel solutions to support clinical decision-making. In this work, we explore the potential of fuzzy cognitive map to assist in the modeling of meningitis, as a support tool for physicians in the accurate diagnosis and treatment of the condition.MethodsFuzzy cognitive mapping (FCM) is a method for analysing and depicting human perception of a given system. FCM facilitates the development of a conceptual model which is not limited by exact values and measurements and thus is well suited to representing relatively unstructured knowledge and associations expressed in imprecise terms. A team of doctors (physicians), comprising four paediatricians, was formed to define the multifarious signs and symptoms associated with meningitis and to identify risk factors integral to its causality, as indicators used by clinicians to identify the presence or absence of meningitis in patients. The FCM model, consisting of 20 concept nodes, has been designed by the team of paediatricians in collaborative dialogue with the research team.ResultsThe paediatricians were supplied with a form containing various input parameters to be completed at the time of diagnosing meningitis among infants and children. The paediatricians provided information on a total of 56 patient cases amongst children whose age ranged from 2 months to 7 years. The physicians' decision to diagnose meningitis was available for each individual case which was used as the outcome measure for evaluating the model. The FCM was trained using 40 cases with an accuracy of 95%, and later 16 test cases were used to analyze the accuracy and reliability of the model. The system produced the results with sensitivity of 83.3% and specificity of 80%.ConclusionsThis work suggests that the application and development of a knowledge based system, using the formalization of FCMs for understanding the symptoms and causes of meningitis in children and infants, can provide a reliable front-end decision-making tool to better assist physicians.

Project description:ObjectiveTo define early presenting features of bacterial meningitis in young infants in England and to review the adequacy of individual case management as compared with relevant national guidelines and an expert panel review.DesignRetrospective medical case note review and parental recall using standardised questionnaires.SettingEngland and Wales.ParticipantsInfants aged <90 days with bacterial meningitis diagnosed between July 2010 and July 2013.ResultsOf the 97 cases recruited across England and Wales, 66 (68%) were admitted from home and 31 (32%) were in hospital prior to disease onset. Almost all symptoms reported by parents appeared at the onset of the illness, with very few new symptoms appearing subsequently. Overall, 20/66 (30%) infants were assessed to have received inappropriate prehospital management. The median time from onset of first symptoms to first help was 5 hours (IQR: 2-12) and from triage to receipt of first antibiotic dose was 2.0 hours (IQR: 1.0-3.3), significantly shorter in infants with fever or seizures at presentation compared with those without (1.7 (IQR: 1.0-3.0) vs 4.2 (IQR: 1.8-6.3) hours, p=0.02). Overall, 26 (39%) infants had a poor outcome in terms of death or neurological complication; seizures at presentation was the only significant independent risk factor (OR, 7.9; 95% CI 2.3 to 207.0). For cases in hospital already, the median time from onset to first dose of antibiotics was 2.6 (IQR: 1.3-9.8) hours, and 12/31 (39%) of infants had serious neurological sequelae at hospital discharge. Hearing test was not performed in 23% and when performed delayed by ≥4 weeks in 41%.ConclusionsIn young infants, the non-specific features associated with bacterial meningitis appear to show no progression from onset to admission, whereas there were small but significant differences in the proportion of infants with more specific symptoms at hospital admission compared with at the onset of the illness, highlighting the difficulties in early recognition by parents and healthcare professionals alike. A substantial proportion of infants received inappropriate prehospital and posthospital management. We propose a targeted campaign for education and harmonisation of practice with evidence-based management algorithms.

Project description:BackgroundIn 2010, the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) published a Consensus Summary for the diagnosis and management of asthma in children six years of age and older, and adults, including an updated Asthma Management Continuum. The CTS Asthma Clinical Assembly subsequently began a formal clinical practice guideline update process, focusing, in this first iteration, on topics of controversy and⁄or gaps in the previous guidelines.MethodsFour clinical questions were identified as a focus for the updated guideline: the role of noninvasive measurements of airway inflammation for the adjustment of anti-inflammatory therapy; the initiation of adjunct therapy to inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) for uncontrolled asthma; the role of a single inhaler of an ICS⁄long-acting beta(2)-agonist combination as a reliever, and as a reliever and a controller; and the escalation of controller medication for acute loss of asthma control as part of a self-management action plan. The expert panel followed an adaptation process to identify and appraise existing guidelines on the specified topics. In addition, literature searches were performed to identify relevant systematic reviews and randomized controlled trials. The panel formally assessed and graded the evidence, and made 34 recommendations.ResultsThe updated guideline recommendations outline a role for inclusion of assessment of sputum eosinophils, in addition to standard measures of asthma control, to guide adjustment of controller therapy in adults with moderate to severe asthma. Appraisal of the evidence regarding which adjunct controller therapy to add to ICS and at what ICS dose to begin adjunct therapy in children and adults with poor asthma control supported the 2010 CTS Consensus Summary recommendations. New recommendations for the adjustment of controller medication within written action plans are provided. Finally, priority areas for future research were identified.ConclusionsThe present clinical practice guideline is the first update of the CTS Asthma Guidelines following the Canadian Respiratory Guidelines Committee's new guideline development process. Tools and strategies to support guideline implementation will be developed and the CTS will continue to regularly provide updates reflecting new evidence.

Project description:Tuberculous meningitis (TBM) is the most severe form of tuberculosis and results in high morbidity and mortality in children. Diagnostic delay contributes to the poor outcome. There is an urgent need for new tools for the rapid diagnosis of TBM, especially in children. We collected serum samples from children in whom TBM was suspected at a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Children were subsequently classified as having TBM or no TBM using a published uniform research case-definition. Using a multiplex cytokine array platform, we investigated the concentrations of serum biomarkers comprising biomarkers that were previously found to be of value in the diagnosis of adult pulmonary TB (CRP, SAA, CFH, IFN-γ, IP-10, Apo-AI, and transthyretin) plus other potentially useful host biomarkers as diagnostic candidates for TBM. Out of 47 children included in the study, 23 (48.9%) had a final diagnosis of TBM and six were HIV infected. A modified version of the adult 7-marker biosignature in which transthyretin was replaced by NCAM1, diagnosed TBM in children with AUC of 0.80 (95% CI, 0.67–0.92), sensitivity of 73.9% (95% CI, 51.6–89.8%) and specificity of 66.7% (95% CI, 44.7–84.4%), with the other six proteins in the signature (CRP, IFN-γ, IP-10, CFH, Apo-A1, and SAA) only achieving and AUC of 0.75 (95% CI, 0.61–0.90) when used in combination. A new childhood TBM specific 3-marker biosignature (adipsin, Aβ42, and IL-10) showed potential in the diagnosis of TBM, with AUC of 0.84 (95% CI, 0.73–0.96), sensitivity of 82.6% (95 CI, 61.2–95.0%) and specificity of 75.0% (95% CI, 53.3–90.2%) after leave-one-out cross validation. A previously described adult 7-marker serum protein biosignature showed potential in the diagnosis of TBM in children. However, a smaller childhood TBM-specific 3-marker signature demonstrated improved performance characteristics. Our data indicates that blood-based biomarkers may be useful in the diagnosis of childhood TBM and requires further validation in larger cohort studies.

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Improvement of the management of infants, children and adults with a molecular diagnosis of Enterovirus meningitis during two observational study periods.

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